Page 84 of Mayflower

Which he is not.

“It looks like these are carefully planned attacks all around Ayana’s perimeter,” Ortiz says.

“Yeah, but most of Butcher’s men don’t know yet that Butcher is gone,” I say. “I think they are waiting for instructions from him.”

Dead. The motherfucker is dust. We all watched what unraveled between Butcher and Raven on the screens in tense shock. When Raven finally lunged at Butcher, shielding Sonny and taking a point-blank shot, even Ortiz roared, “Fuck!” And we all gasped in horror.

Maddy was the first one to reach them, despite the thugs in the jungle. She shot Butcher multiple times. Tsariuk will hang me when he finds out, but it’s not my fault that his daughter is a fucking Valkyrie, ready to kill for her man and kid. Then the guards finished Butcher and dragged her, the kid, and Raven away to safety. That very second, we gave the order to another team to go in with an all-assault.

The word of Butcher’s death will spread soon.

Good.

It’s unsettling how one evil human can end so many lives and start a senseless war.

“Boss!” one of my guys calls for my attention. “We just received a request for permission to land at Ayana.”

“Tsariuk?”

“Yes. A Cobra. A utility helicopter. Four Apaches. A jet?—”

“Whatever he wants.”

“A fucking jet? Really?” Marlow whistles.

Just then, my satellite phone rings. It’s the Russian devil himself.

“Mr. Crone, ready for a little intervention? If I do not find my daughter alive and well, I am bringing war on Zion.”

“Your daughter is safe. But we are in trouble, Mr. Tsariuk.”

“I know. I apologize for the delay. We had to wait for Raven to come out of surgery.”

“Raven?” Suddenly, my right-hand man is the center of everyone’s attention.

“Yes, we couldn’t interrupt the surgery. Milena asked me to wait. But he is out, currently in ICU. No other surgeries are in progress. So, we are ready to execute our plan. Now.”

“Tell me what to do.”

“I am on a direct line with your cyber-operations guy and my intervention team. I need you to send an emergency announcement to everyone at Ayana to get ready. In exactly five minutes, we are dropping the gas capsules. Five minutes. Be ready. The Center does not have open windows, so it should be safe even if you do not use the masks. But I would not count on it. I would like everyone to be prepared.”

When the kids were intercepted, I gave the order to send them to the medical ward and dispatched Kat and Margot there. I wanted my girls to overlook it.

So, I call Kat. “How is it?”

“Just dealing with the injured and the kids. I can hear the shooting and explosions outside. Are we safe?”

“You have to get the masks ready.”

“Okay. We need a minute. But there are thirty kids here. What do we do?”

“Use N95 masks and take the kids to the downstairs storage room.”

“Got it. When?”

“Now. You have five minutes. Take care of the kids. You can do it?”

“I can do anything.”

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